Coming Home
by ilikegoo
Summary: They were ripped apart by his mistake, but in the wake of recent events Pepper Potts finds herself drawn back to Tony Stark. pre-IM through to the end of IM2, eventuall Pepperony
1. Chapter 1

**So this is something I've been working on in addition to 'Pepper's Secret' and 'The Journey'. I'm kinda fond of the idea, and have done this chapter + the next. I want to know whether it's worth continuing or whether people totally hate it. **

**Missing**

When they got married he made her CFO and he took on CTO and CEO, she did the business he played with his toys. When they got divorced she moved to New York and she didn't have to talk to him anymore, she could handle financial issues from Wall Street and the New York Office anyway. She'd resigned her seat on the board and everything, so when she was summoned to Los Angeles for an emergency board meeting she didn't understand why.

Yet here she was in LAX waiting for a car to pick her up and what she got instead was her ex-husbands driver.

"Hey Pepper!" He greeted happily.

"Hello Happy." She returned his greeting warmly, she'd missed Happy Hogan. They'd both worked for Tony before he confessed his feelings to her.

"Happy are we not going to the hotel?" They'd driven past the turning for Beverly Hills and were driving instead towards Stark Industries. She recognised the route, even though it had been 2 years since she'd last been in LA.

"Sorry Pepper, Mr Stane gave me strict orders to take you directly to Stark Industries.

"Obi?" She was confused, she was 100% sure Tony had something to do with getting her here.

"Yeah, you asked Tony to leave you alone so he did." Happy only ever used his bosses first name when he was talking to Pepper.

She contemplated what she'd been told and remained quiet for the whole journey. When they arrived at SI Happy immediately drove her round the back where there would be no waiting press, Pepper hadn't been seen in LA since she left Tony.

"Pepper." Obadiah Stane hugged Pepper when she entered the building. "Let's go up to my office."

"Obi what is going on?" He never answered her but continued to silently walk towards his office.

When they got inside, he chose to her. "Tony's missing."

**TBC…**

**Just a little tester to gage people's reactions to this. All will be explained, like exactly why they split up.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Long Lost Husband**

Pepper was in a daze as she left Stark Industries barely registering that Obadiah had told her that the procedures put in place by Tony meant that in his absence she was taking over his role as both CEO and majority shareholder, or that Happy was currently driving away from Los Angeles and towards Malibu. Only when she pulled up outside the familiar mansion, a building she swore never to be in again did she start to come to her senses.

"Happy why are we here?"

"This is where I was told to bring you." Happy responded painfully aware of the fact that this was probably the last place on earth Pepper wanted to be.

"It's fine." She told him sensing that he was worried she was mad at him. "I'm tired, I'll stay here for now but in the morning I'm going to book in to a hotel."

She walked through the doors of the mansion after putting in her access code, surprised it still worked after all this time.

"Welcome home Mrs Stark." The disembodied English voice of Tony's AI JARVIS greeted.

"It's Ms Potts now JARVIS."

"My apologies Ms Potts."

Pepper didn't respond to JARVIS after that and instead took in the all too familiar surroundings. Tony, it appeared, had not bothered to redecorate since she left. Some of the art work she'd picked was still up, pieces she'd not bothered to claim as her own, pictures of the blissful 18 months they'd spent as a married couple were still displayed. She ventured down to the basement workshop and was cheerfully (how she knew what cheerful was she would never understand) by Dummy the robot. She looked over at the car he'd clearly been working on recently and the cluttered desk and was drawn by the velvet box next to the only photo's he had on his desk (of Tony and his father and them on their wedding day), she opened the box to stare at the rings inside remembering the day she returned both to him.

_**Flash back **_

_Pepper stormed downstairs, she couldn't believe what she'd come home to. He was sleeping with his PA in their bed; it was the ultimate cliché, one she herself had participated in over 2 years ago. _

"_Pepper wait!" She heard him call as she moved towards the door. She'd walked in seen what she saw and screamed bastard at him before slamming the bedroom door on the way out._

_He'd managed to at least have the decency to pull his underwear back on before chasing after her. "Pepper please, you're overreacting."_

"_Overreacting?" She spun around to look at him "How is this an overreaction? You cheated Tony and I'm leaving. That is how this works" _

"_She means nothing to me! None of them do, it's you I still come home to every night."_

"_There's been more than one?" She was furious now; he mentally slapped himself for revealing more than necessary._

"_Yes but they mean nothing, I already said that." _

"_We're married Tony, there was that ceremony do you remember it at all? The one where you promised fidelity." _

"_What about the part that you promise to love me for better or worse? This is my worst part! I like sex Pepper and that's all it is. Harmless fun, with you I make love it's different." _

"_How is it different Tony? I thought you'd changed, I thought when we got together you'd be a better man."_

"_I never promised to change Pepper, just to love you and I do."_

"_I can't love you Tony, not like this!" She slipped the two rings he'd given her off her finger and placed them in his hand._

_**End Flash Back **_

The split had caused a minor scandal in the tabloids, the stocks had taken a slight hit, but when Pepper announced her move to New York and that she was staying on as CFO, a position she'd received after they announced their relationship believing it would be inappropriate for her to continue as his PA given the nature of their new relationship, they returned to their normal value.

Tony's disappearance continued for three months, Pepper remained in LA taking up residence in one of the guest rooms of his mansion given the press were following her around, desperate for any news related to the disappearance of Tony and her reappearance, conspiracy theories running rampant in this less reputable publications. Then one day she received the phone call.

"Hello?" She spoke down the phone

"Pepper is that you?" Rhodey was surprised; he'd been dealing with Obadiah mostly.

"Yeah Jim, it's me. How are you?"

"I'm fine, how have you been? We've not spoken in forever."

"I'm great, just want to get back to New York. I'm assuming this isn't a social call, not that I'm not glad to talk to you…" She trailed off.

"I've got news. Great news in fact, well possibly depending on whether you still want to kill him or not." He joked

"You found him?"

"Yeah, yeah we did. He's getting checked out by the doctors now and if everything is ok expect us on the next flight to Edwards."

"Well Jim that really is good news." They talked a little longer, he explained the arc reactor to her and some of the things that had gone on, not mentioning the armoured suit he used to fly away in. Then Pepper did something which surprised herself, she cried out of exhaustion and happiness she really didn't want him dead and she was glad he was safe and he was coming home. Soon she could return to her small corner of the world and go back to being the woman who divorced Tony Stark.

So she found herself waiting at the end of the taxi way for the aircraft to lower its ramp and when it did she noticed two distinct figures, one stood and the other in wheel chair being helped up. Pepper felt herself begin to tear up again, she bit her lip to stop it. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of crying for him anymore.

He made his way down the ramp, waving off the paramedics and stopped in front of her. "Your eyes are red. Tears for your long lost husband?" He asked staring at her, he wasn't expecting her there. She'd been quite adamant that she never wanted to see him again.

"Tears of joy, I hate board meetings."

"Yeah, vacations over." She looked at him, a vacation? That's what he thought this was, she resisted the urge to argue with him and instead followed him around to the car.

"Where to?" Happy asked, wishing he was anywhere but the car with a divorced couple.

"The hospital please Happy."

"No." Tony cut her off. "I've been in captivity for three months, there are two things I want."

"Can you at least wait until I'm back in New York before you…"

"No, not that. First I want an American cheeseburger and the second I want to call a press conference"

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

So Pepper set about calling the necessary people to make it happen, declining his offer of a burger when they stopped at the drive-thru. Obadiah led the welcome committee of SI staff who waited at the entrance to Stark Industries main office building. Pepper noticed when Rhodes stepped up next to her and whispered "What's with the love in?" Tony had the press sitting on floor.

"I have no idea." She responded, further conversation was cut off as Tony announced the Stark Industries weapons division was shut down. Pepper took a few deep calming breaths imagining the phone in her (Tony's) office ringing along with her blackberry which had already begun to buzz incessantly in her purse.

"What the hell are you thinking?" She yelled as soon as they were in the car

"I was thinking that it's my company and I can do whatever the hell I want." Tony countered

"No you can't! You've got shareholders and the board and investments, do you know how much our DOD contracts are worth?"

"Contrary to what you believe Mrs Stark…" He said in his usual arrogant tone

"It's Ms Potts." She hissed

"…I am in fact well aware of exactly what stopping the weapons production will do."

"What about our liability? We've got current contracts, we're legally obligated to finish them."

"Pepper, I'll deal with it." Tony's tone indicated he was ready for this conversation to end.

"No you won't! The board voted you're on leave for another 2 weeks after that there will be a board meeting that I will not attend but Obadiah will to see if you're ready to come back to work." Apparently Pepper wasn't finished.

"You're not on the board, you made sure of that when you left me." Tony snapped, he was mad at her for leaving, although he'd grown to understand it and to hate himself a little for doing this to them..

"The directive you left in case this very situation happened, states that I'll take over as CEO and your seat on the board until you return."

"So why aren't you going to the meeting?"

"Obadiah is going in my place, I was staying to deal with the press until you're healed or whatever but now I'm dealing with you doing a 180 degree flip on our primary business area."

"So you're staying." He said, staring out the window as they drove along the PCH when he was struck by a thought "Where are you staying?"

"The mansion." She said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world, Tony tried not to smirk. "It was the safest place. Press have been hounding me since I arrived here."

"When did you get here?" He asked curious as to what was going through her mind.

"A week after you left." She told him, there was no more conversation until they arrived back at the mansion. Pepper went to the home office to deal with the fallout from the press conference and Tony went to his workshop.

"JARVIS pull up the video of Pepper entering the mansion, audio too if you can." He asked the AI as he started sketching out designs to replace his Arc Reactor.

"It would be my pleasure sir." The AI complied with his request and Tony found himself drawn in to the images of Pepper walking through the doors of their home for the first time since the day she walked out.

He watched as she seemed taken by the fact that very little had changed since she left, some art work had been replaced and some of the homier features had been taken away. It was when she walked in to their…his he had to remind himself, bedroom that he really understood how much she hurt. He watched as she cautiously pushed open the door and just looked inside running her hands along the bedcovers before snapping her hand back like she'd been burnt, clearly remembering that afternoon, the door was slammed and Tony zoomed in on her face, there were tears.

"JARVIS were there anymore times during my…absence that Ms Potts cried?" He asked

"Sir my surveillance records show Ms Potts crying herself to sleep most nights."

"Was it anything in particular that made her cry?" He hated it when Pepper cried

"Usually reminders of your marriage sir. Although some days when she came home stressed or angry after a day at the office would also cause a similar reaction." He hated himself right now, he hated it more when he was the reason Pepper cried, but he couldn't help but chuckle when JARVIS told him about her crying after work. Not many people knew but Pepper was an angry crier, she'd get a little frustrated people and she had the patience of a saint but if you could set her off (something Tony excelled at) she'd soon calm down and cry.

"Sir, Ms Potts also cried when she heard you were safe." JARVIS added and warmth spread through Tony, maybe there was hope after all.

**TBC…**

**Pepperony will come! Don't worry I promise. **

**Angry crying, seriously it's weird. I do it I'll go from blind fury (there's a joke in there but I have too much dignity to point it out) to crying my eyes out when I get mad. **

**I'm super nervous about how this story is going to play out and what people think so please, feedback is appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So the response to this story was better than I was expecting, so you guys can have another update. This one explains how Tony and Pepper ended up together and covers one of my favourite Iron Man scenes (from a pepperoni perspective).**

**You're All That I've Got**

Tony sat in his workshop redesigning the arc reactor in his chest once he was happy with it he set JARVIS about machining it.

"Sir the redesign is expected to take about 2 hours." The AI informed him.

"Thank you JARVIS, I'll be taking a shower and a nap if you need me."

"Yes Sir."

Tony went and showered glad to finally be able to have a proper shower not the terrible bucket of cold water and sponge that he had in the cave or the equally cold drips (which after the stint in the desert had initially been welcome) from the various base showers he'd been using. He left his warm power shower and collapsed on the bed and for the first time in a long while the dreams were of the happier times he shared with Pepper and not the end of their relationship.

_**Flash Back!**_

_Tony awoke to movement from the red head in his arms, she turned and her blue eyes met his brown ones._

"_Not good! Not good! Not good!" She began to mumble quickly_

"_Actually Miss Potts I found it very good." He responded smiling at her _

"_Oh god…"_

"_Ah now there's a phrase I remember from last night." _

"_Tony, seriously?" She was angry now, whether it was at him or herself, he did not know. "I can't believe this happened…"_

"_I can…" She looked ready to slap him "Wow, wow calm down Pepper. I can believe it happened just not like this. I mean the PA getting drunk and mackin' on her boss at the Christmas party, it's all a bit cliché really."_

"_I wasn't drinking last night." She stated._

"_No somebody…" him. "…spiked the punch, nobody realised until they saw you."_

"_Oh god…"_

"_Pepper stop freaking out." He said softly._

"_But it's you! Everyone knows how you are with women!" She was in full Potts freak out mode._

"_Pepper, I'm still here aren't I." He'd been drinking last night as well, but he'd realised the first time he woke up that he didn't want to leave her alone to clean up herself in the morning._

"_Yes you are which is just like…so not like you. Tony?" She looked at him and he cut her off with a kiss._

_**The dream then changed…**_

_They'd been together for a few months, it took him a while but he finally convinced her that after that morning they woke up together the first time, that this was what he wanted. _

"_Tony what are you thinking?" She asked him shaking him from his thoughts_

'_Uh oh…that's the question!' he thought and then decided to tell her the truth. He tightened his grip around her as they lay on the couch. "I love you Pepper."_

_She smiled "I love you too Tony." _

_**Then it jumped forward to the proposal…**_

_He was nervous, it was Christmas morning and they were sat unwrapping their gifts when she picked up the small box._

"_What's this?" She said looking at the smallest package_

"_I don't know you'll have to open it." He said trying not to give away he knew exactly what was in the box._

_Pepper unwrapped the package and then the shock on her face as she stared at the small ring with the fairly impressive diamond. She turned to look at Tony who was now on one knee in front of her._

"_Will you marry me?" He asked so quietly, she thought she'd misheard._

"_What?"_

"_Will you, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, marry me, Anthony Stark?" He said a little louder. _

"_Yes." She said and he slipped the ring on her finger as she leant forward and kissed him. _

_**Then things began to turn nasty…**_

"_I can't believe you're getting married." Rhodey said as the two shared a beer at a basketball game. Tony had just shared his news. "I mean, you sleeping with Pepper, that I believe." _

"_Thanks…" He said sarcastically _

"_I mean you're committing yourself to one woman for the rest of your life!" He exclaimed _

_Well Rhodey didn't need to know about the waitress at the office party before Christmas or the cocktail waitress in the bar where he'd been celebrating new years with Pepper, or the play mate at Hugh Heffner's party and possibly the Lakers cheerleader he was currently giving the eye too._

_**The scene changed again…**_

"_Mr Stark, I've got that file you asked for…" Lisa his secretary said as she walked in to the office._

"_Brilliant bring it over." She walked around to his desk and as they were looking at the file in front of him, their eyes met and he found himself kissing her._

_**Suddenly he was at their wedding…**_

_She looked gorgeous in the white strapless dress as she walked towards him, and when the minister declared them husband and wife he decided there and then he'd stop the other women, she was what was important to him now and he wasn't going ruin it. _

_However when he found himself dancing with Lisa and then in the service elevator he realised he couldn't change, but apart from that he could love Pepper and he would stay with her._

_**The next thing he saw was after she left.**_

_The rings were placed in his hand and they were burning his skin. He was heartbroken and angry, why didn't she understand? He tried to change! He was only human. _

_She'll calm down and come home he thought. They were discussing having a child, she couldn't just walk out on him, did she not realise she was all he had?_

_It was only later as he stared at the bottom of the scotch bottle he realised she wasn't coming home._

_**He remembered the meeting with his lawyer **_

"_You never signed a pre-nup?" His lawyer was incredulous _

"_I never intended to leave her." He snapped_

"_She's entitled to half." _

"_She can have it." _

"_Mr Stark…"_

"_No I did this. It's all my fault." He snapped_

"_Excuse me, Mr Roberts?" His lawyer's secretary stuck her head in "There's a man to see Mr Stark." _

"_Send him in." Tony said._

"_Mr Anthony E Stark?" The man asked._

"_Yes." Tony replied_

"_Sign here." He handed a clipboard to Tony, who signed his name. "Mr Stark you've been served." He handed the envelope to Tony, which was immediately taken by his lawyer. _

"_It's divorce papers." The man said after glancing at them. _

"_What's she asking for?"_

"_The New York Penthouse and she's relinquishing her shares in the company and her board seat and asks that she remain as Chief Financial Officer."_

"_That's it?" He was shocked; he was expecting that she was going to take him for all she's worth._

"_That is all she wants Mr Stark." _

"_But how can my CFO not sit on the board?"_

"_There's no legal requirement for her to sit on the board. That is a business issues that you, and by you I recommend any other corporate officer and your legal department are going to have to sort out." _

_**The Scene jumps forward **_

_His head was forced underwater and as he blacked out her face flashed in his subconscious. He came around as his head was pulled from the water, he called for her as it was pushed under again and only then did he realise how much he'd lost._

_**End Flash Back**_

He shot up in his bed, hyper ventilating and sweating, he'd been thinking about the end of their marriage a lot over the last 3 months and how she was truly the greatest thing that ever happened to him and he'd lost her.

"Sir the new chest piece is complete." JARVIS voice startled him and he remembered what he was meant to be doing and went down to his workshop, where he tried to insert it himself and realised he was going to need help. There was only person who could help him right now; whether she would he didn't know.

"JARVIS where's Pepper?"

"Ms Potts is in the front room watching a television show about the Stark Industries stock situation."

"Call her on the intercom."

"Yes sir."

"Potts I need those very small hands of yours." He said in to the intercom

"What are you talking about Tony?" Her exasperated response came over the communications system.

"Your hands, I remember them being small. I need you, it's important. Life or death Pepper."

She caved and came down to the workshop, he was glad to see her.

"Hey." He said softly as she walked in. "let me see your hands." He sat up slightly and looked. "Just as small as I remember."

"Is that the thing keeping you alive?" She looked at the device in his hand.

"It was it is now an antique." He looked at the one in his "This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future I'm swapping it out for an upgraded model."

"I just ran into a little speed bump. A snag…there's an exposed wire contacting the socket wall its causing a short." He pulled the old chest piece out. "Oh…ok, I need you to pull out."

She couldn't believe she was doing this. "Is it safe?" she asked

"Yeah it's fine, it's just like operation you just don't let it touch the socket wall…"

"What's operation" she asked and then thought for a moment "What do you mean operation?"

"It's just a game, never mind." He added a game to his things to get for people at Christmas list. "Just gently lift the wire."

She reached in and then pulled away "I don't think I'm qualified to do this."

"No you're fine." He looked at her "You're the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met, and you'll do great." He looked at her "Is it too much of a problem to ask. I really need your help here."

"Ok." She put her hand in his chest. "Eeeeeew there's puss."

"It's not puss it's a plasma discharge. It's from the device not my body."

His sentence didn't help. "It smells!"

"Yeah it does" He told her trying to keep her (and himself) calm.

She found the wire and jabbed it against his side, causing an electric shock to pass through his body.

"When you pull it out make sure you don't pull out the magnet at the end of it." He said it watching as she pulled the wire and the magnet out of his body. "That was it." Things started to beep and go crazy.

"I'm going in to cardiac arrest." He told her handing her the new piece.

"Tony it's going to be ok." She said still holding the new piece in her hand. 'Not if you don't put that in me' he thought.

She finally attached the arc reactor and he felt a jolt as it connected. "See was that so hard?" He asked, looking at her looking at her hands covered in the discharge and he laughed.

"Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER ask me to do anything like that again." She told him.

"I don't have anyone…but you." He said seriously.

Only then did the last 5 minutes really start to become clear in Pepper's mind. "You don't have me Tony." Their eyes met and he remembered the last two years and that his nightmare earlier was his reality.

"What do you want me to do with this?" She asked him.

"Destroy it." He told her

"You don't want to keep it?"

"Pepper I've been called many things…" She'd called him a fair few things in the last two years. "Nostalgic is not one of them." She didn't believe him. Reminders of their time together covered his house. She then watched as he ordered his robots around.

"Hey Butterfingers come here, what's all this on my desk? That's my phone, those are pictures of me and my dad and me and my wife. The rest of it? Junk."

She left clutching the chest piece and he turned and watched her as she walked away from him again. Although he couldn't help but notice, she'd softened slightly. It was then he decided as soon as he was done with his next project, he was going to get her back. Now all he needed was help.

**TBC…**

How was that? A little more insight for you? Any guesses as to what his project is?

Feedback is, as always, much appreciated =)


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay, things have been pretty hectic recently and I've really had zero energy to write. **

**4****th**** Annual Benefit **

Tony looked at the package on the desk in front of him. He would've wrote it off had he not noticed the post-it on top reading _From Pepper._ He pulled apart the packaging and looked at the framed arc reactor in the glass case and the words surrounding it:

_Proof that Tony Stark has a heart_

And to think he was convinced she'd forgot he had one, although to be fair he'd brought that upon himself. He smiled and placed it on the desk next to the photos.

"Ok JARVIS let's get to work." He said as he attached an ice pack to his shoulder and immediately set about solving his icing problem.

It was a problem he'd managed to finish when the news report on the television caught his attention, they were talking about him. "…Whatever it is no one expects an appearance from him tonight."

"The render is complete." JARVIS voice cut across the television and Tony looked at the gold model in front of him, a little thrown by the gold colouring (_'_It is a gold titanium alloy' he scolded himself).

"Little ostentatious don't you think?" He asked the AI

"Of course, what was I thinking? You're always so discreet." It responded, Tony again mentally scolded himself for programming it with sarcasm and was about to say so when he looked at the hot rod and immediately felt a wave of inspiration.

"Tell you what... throw a little hot rod red in there."

"Yes that should help you keep a low profile." Despite what he said JARVIS filled the screen with hot rod red and informed Tony that the render was complete and would take a few hours to complete.

"Don't wait up for me honey." He told his AI and went upstairs to change; he needed the media to see him, before any of the crazy rumours really got out of control.

Speeding off in his Audi R8 he made it from Malibu to downtown LA and the Disney Concert Hall pretty quickly. He pulled up and was immediately greeted by an enthusiastic valet and he strutted down the red carpet past the screaming girls, some of whom were apparently previous conquests, not that he (was surprised) remembered them individually.

He stopped to greet Obadiah and then went straight inside where he made a beeline for the bar and was cornered by a federal agent. The man introduced himself as Agent Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, Tony however was distracted by the red head in the backless blue dress. "I tell you what, I'm gonna go talk to my boss and we'll make a date." He quickly ditched the fed and walked over to Pepper.

"You look fantastic I didn't recognise you!" He said loudly to alert her to his presence.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she hadn't seen him all day. JARIVS told her that he was working on a project.

"Avoiding government agents." He told her

"Are you by yourself?" She just thought she'd check before she suffered an emotional body blow from whatever blonde bimbo was sure to make her presence known.

No bimbo appeared and he deflected the question. "Where did you get that dress?"

"It was a birthday gift." Pepper told him, a gift from herself "From you actually."

"I have great taste." He quipped, knowing full well she'd bought the dress from the proceeds of her alimony cheque.

"You uh…want to dance?" He asked

This was what she'd been afraid of "Oh. No thank you."

"Great come on." Her protests however proved pointless as he grabbed her hand and dragged her out on to the dance floor, she smiled politely at the SI shareholder she'd just been dragged away from.

She tried to relax as he led her confidently on the dance floor "Am I making you uncomfortable?" He asked after she flashed a nervous smile at him.

"Oh!" She was surprised he cared "Oh no." She told him quietly "I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my ex-husband in a room full of everybody he works with in a dress with no back"

"You look great" He told her honestly "you smell great."

"Oh god." She mumbled

"I could argue with you if that would take the edge off."

"I actually don't think that would help."

She looked at him and for a moment almost forgets the last two years, it was moments like this she remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She smiled sadly at him, telling him all she needed to know.

He stared back and thought 'either she's going to kiss me or I'm going to kiss her' so he stopped dancing. "How about a little air?

"Yeah I could use some air." The tone of voice she used told him, she was thinking the same thing.

He led her on to the balcony which was deserted except for one other couple who on seeing the infamous former husband and wife quickly walked in the opposite direction.

"That was totally weird." It would seem Pepper had regained some control

"It was totally harmless." He tried to deflect her because if he did her rejection wouldn't hurt as much.

"It was totally not harmless." She threw back at him.

"We danced, nobody was watching." He continued to try and throw her off.

"No! You know why…"

"I think you lost objectivity." He told her

"We just danced."

"No!" She said trying to not to get angry. "It was not just a dance. You don't understand because you're you and everybody knows how you are with girls and how you were with me and why we broke up, which is fine."

"I…" Tony attempted to cut her off.

"It makes me look like the one who can't let go and you know…" she trailed off

"I think you're overstating…"

She cut him off again "And we're here and I'm wearing this ridiculous dress and we were dancing like that…" she trailed off when she saw him staring at her. She stopped and stared back, he leant in and so did she before they both pulled back.

"I would like a drink."

He was actually grateful they'd stopped "You got it." He said as he walked away from her listening to her call something about a martini and extra olives.

He walked down to the bar where he noticed a woman approach, usually he didn't really remember his previous conquests but since this had been the last woman he'd slept with before Afghanistan. She was ranting and raving about some pictures and the evils of his weapons making (despite the fact SI no longer produced weapons). It was only when she mentioned the town of Gulmira did he begin to pay attention.

…

She slowly walked down the stairs to his workshop where she heard him arguing with the robots and then she saw him in a red suit suspended above the ground.

"I designed this to come off." He told the robots, whilst JARVIS pointlessly kept giving him instructions.

"What's going on?" She was shocked by what she was seeing.

The robots, as shocked as he was stopped trying to remove the suit "Let's face it this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing." He was right it wasn't the worst thing she'd caught him doing.

"Are those bullet holes?"

**TBC…**

**Well there we go = ) I had to cut out the social security bit which is a shame cus it's one of the best things about that scene. **

**Feedback is appreciated as always. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Hey sorry this took a while life got in the way a bit, I'll try and update quicker in the future. **

**Iron Monger**

Pepper stormed out of the workshop whilst the bots were still trying to pull of Tony's armour. It was an hour before she'd calmed down enough to return to his workshop.

"Hey." He greeted softly when he heard the clicking of her heels. "You busy? Mind if I send you on an errand?" He asked, still not meeting her disappointed gaze

"Actually, I'm going in to the office."

"Good." He picked up something on his desk "I need you to go to my office and hack in to the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests." He handed her the item "This is a lock chip, this'll get you in." He then went on to talk about where the files could be hidden.

"And what do you plan to do with this information?" She asked

"Same drill. They've been dealing under the table. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them." His voice was resolute

"Tony, you know I'd help you with anything." She may not have talked to him for two years, but she wasn't going to watch him kill himself. "But I cannot help you if you're going to start all this again."

"There is nothing except this." He ranted how nothing else mattered; art openings, benefits and board meetings. Everything was irrelevant. "There is the next mission and nothing else."

"Is that so?" She looked at him sadly "Then I'm done." She tossed the lock chip back at him.

"You stood by my side whilst I…whilst we reaped the benefits of destruction and now I'm trying to protect the people you're just going to walk out?" The unsaid 'again' was clear to the both of them.

"You're going to kill yourself Tony and I'm not going to be a part of it." She snapped.

"I shouldn't be alive." He thought for a moment "Unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy Pepper. I just finally now what it is I have to do and I know in my heart that it's right." It was the most honest he'd been then whole time she'd been back in LA and it was that, which made her return to the table and pick up the thing Tony had given her.

"You're all I have too you know." And with that she left and Tony tried not to get too hopeful.

… …. … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … .. .. .. .

"You didn't tell us the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark. As you can see Obadiah Stane your deception and lies will cost you dearly. The price of killing Tony Stark has just gone up…"

As if the image of a bloody, beaten and scared Tony Stark surrounded by men with guns wasn't scary enough the translation she heard was truly horrifying. When Obadiah entered the room Pepper was scared she'd been caught (deep down she knew she had been) and as he circled around her, she prayed she wouldn't get seen copying the files.

She hurried down the stairs, knowing as soon as she left Obadiah would see what she'd been looking at. As she made her way to the lobby she saw the man from the government agency whose name she couldn't remember but was aware she had an appointment with.

'Good a federal agent.' She thought as she saw him

"Ms Potts! We had an appointment, did you forget?" He asked

"Nope. We're gonna have it right now. Walk with me." She hurried and Phil Coulson sped to catch up to her pace.

"Ok…" he was slightly confused and turned his head to follow her gaze and saw Obadiah Stane looking down on them menacingly.

"I'm gonna give you the meeting of your life." She kept walking "Your office."

Pepper needed to tell somebody. If she could stop Obadiah then maybe, just maybe she could stop Tony…

… … … … … … … … … … … … ….

He was beginning to wonder where Pepper was, she'd left hours ago and then there was the crushing realisation that maybe she had left him again. Then the phone rang he glanced at the image on the front. Pepper. Probably calling to say she's gone home to New York.

He answers and hears her panicked "Tony?"

Then a high pitched buzzing fills his ear and his whole body goes numb and he can still hear Pepper on the phone "Tony are you there?"

But it's the second voice filling his ears telling him to breathe that disturbs him the most.

"Tony when I ordered the hit on you I worried I was killing the golden goose." Stane's words briefly registered with what he was saying but Tony was more concerned with the device he was currently attaching to Tony's chest.

The pain as Stane ripped his arc reactor from his chest was terrible "You had one last golden egg to give." Tony watched as the thing keeping him alive was taken away and he listened as Stane ranted like a madman about Tony's father and weapons and the suit (at least that's what Tony thought he was talking about) he'd built. "I wish you didn't involve Pepper in this." The sentence really caught Tony's attention. "I really would've preferred she lived."

Tony watched helplessly as Stane walked from his mansion with his arc reactor and the knowledge that he was going to kill Pepper.

… … … … … … … … … …. …. … … .. … … .. … .. ..

Pepper was worried. Tony, who'd sent her to find shipping manifests only to discover something bigger and be caught finding out Obadiah's terrible secret, wasn't answering his phone and given what she'd found out this made Pepper very, very nervous. However there was one more number to try.

"_Hello?" The voice of James Rhodes came across the line_

"Jim, it's me listen Obadiah ordered Tony's kidnapping, I found out, Stane knows I found out and now I can't get hold of Tony and I'm worried…"

"_Wow! Pepper slow down, what do you mean he paid to have Tony killed?" Pepper started to give a long winded answer again. "Pepper slow down."_

"He paid the ten rings, to get rid of him."

"_Why would Obadiah…" Rhodey never got to finish his question._

"I don't know! To seize control?"

"_Where's Tony now?" Rhodey asked._

"I don't know he's not answering his phone. Please go over there and make sure everything is ok" Pepper was getting very worried.

"_Ok I'll go over there now."_

"Thank you Rhodey." She clicked the phone shut. "I know a short cut." She told the Shield agents following her.

…..

Rhodey ran in to Tony's house "Tony?!" He called out, searching and he eventually found his friend lying on the floor of his workshop. Rolling him over he was glad to see that the arc reactor was glowing and that Tony was awake.

"Where's Pepper?" Were the first words out of Rhodey's mouth.

"She's fine, she's with 5 agents." Tony seemed marginally relieved to hear this. "They're going to arrest Obadiah."

The panic returned "that's not going to be enough." Filled with determination Tony allowed Rhodey to help him off the floor and immediately began to order JARVIS to prep his suit.

"Tony what the hell?" Rhodey asked

"It's an armoured suit, you may remember it from the little incident with your jets." Tony climbed on to the platform. "Obi has one, it's bigger and Pepper's there, he's going to kill her."

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen." Rhodey watched as Tony was encased in the metal suit.

"Not bad huh?" The face mask clicked shut and Tony was ready to go "Let's do this."

"Need any help?"

"Just keep the skies clear."

… . …. . … … …. …. … … … … … … … … …. …. … …. … … … … ….. …..

"Trying to rid the world of the weapons and you've given it it's best one yet!" Obadiah tormented as Tony dangled through the broken ceiling.

"Pepper!" He called to the woman waiting for his signal bellow.

Obadiah fired a blast from his suit

"Time to hit the button!" Tony called

"You told me not too!" She countered, Tony not quite believing she was choosing now to argue with him.

Obadiah took aim "Hold still you little prick."

"Just do it!" Tony called

"You'll die!" She shouted back, Tony had a momentary moment of smugness in the knowledge she didn't really want to kill him.

"Push it!" He yelled and she did fleeing the room as the blast shot up to the sky taking Tony with it.

He crashed back down and watched the resulting explosion as Obadiah fell in to the reactor. Just before he blacked out he heard her call out his name but was unsure whether he'd really heard it or not.

… …. … …. … … … … … … …. … … .. … …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. … …. .. .. .. .. . .. .

"Iron Man, that's kind of catchy. I mean it's not technically accurate the suits a gold titanium all-oy" Pepper was helping him prepare for the press conference.

"Here's your alibi." The shield agent who'd been with Pepper when he woke up was handing him a card and Tony wasn't really paying attention as the agent explained his cover.

"I was thinking we should say it was just Pepper and me. Alone on our yacht…" Tony tried and Pepper pulled the Band-Aid off his face harder than she probably should have.

Pepper focused on covering his cuts and bruises as agent Coulson tried to tell him why he should stick to the story and that Stane was being handled separately.

Pepper showed Coulson out.

"It's not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man." Tony said as she helped him with his jacket.

"You're not Iron Man."

"If I were Iron Man I'd have this wife who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck always worrying I was going to die yet proud of the man I've become. She'd be wildly conflicted and that would only make her more crazy about me. Tell me you never think about that night?"

"What night?" She asked

"You know…" Tony prompted

"Are you…are you talking about the night I spent crying and alone after catching you cheating on me? Or the other night when we danced and went up on the roof and then you went downstairs to get me a drink and then you left me there by myself. Is that the night you're talking about?"

"Uhm hum." He couldn't think of answer to either situation.

"I thought so." She straightened his tie "Will that be all Mr Stark?"

He was about to leave when she called to him. "For the record, I am proud of the man you've become and I am worried you're going to kill yourself."

Tony smiled as he walked on to the stage.

… …. …. …. …. … … … .. .. .. .. … . .. .

"The truth is…I am Iron Man."

**TBC…**

**There we go first of two chapters you're getting today. Feedback is appreciated if you're feeling nice enough to leave a review =p**


	6. Chapter 6

**So thinking about the Iron Man timeline, IM2 is set roughly 6 months after IM1 and the Monaco race is usually held in May and Thanksgiving is in November this chapter seemed to fit.**

**Don't expect a long chapter this is just a little one to bridge the gap and introduce a plot point for the next chapter. **

**I know I said this would be up the other day I just got backed up with some work I need to do over the summer.**

**Turkey Day**

Tony stood and watched Pepper type away on her laptop, the whole mess with Obadiah had been dealt with, the aftermath of his little announcement was being handled by a very stressed PR department (who Pepper had decided would be getting a larger than normal bonus this Christmas), yet she was still in Malibu, still in house and although he hadn't told her, still in his heart.

Pepper of course had chosen to stay in California because out of the three most senior figures in Stark Industries, one was dead and the one was playing superhero in a shiny metal suit and someone had to be the responsible senior management figure here.

"What are your plans for Thanksgiving?" Tony asked, causing Pepper to jump slightly. She hadn't heard him come upstairs

"I thought since I'm in the area I'll go and see my dad in Newport." Pepper answered as she continued to work on her laptop.

"Oh." He sounded disappointed

"Oh?" She asked

"I was hoping you'd spend it here." He shrugged

"Tony…"

"I know, I know, we're not married anymore but you're still here and I'm back and everything's…"

"Don't you dare say everything is OK because it isn't." She told him and she was right it wasn't ok not now he'd announced to the world he's Iron Man.

"Whatever." He told her. "Um…go have dinner with your father I'll just do what I've done the last two years."

"Go to that bar by the beach, have a beer and eat the Turkey buffet?" She said knowingly.

"How did you know?" He pretended to be shocked.

"It's what you did before we got married." She said softly.

…

"Hi Daddy!" Pepper wrapped her arms around her father as he opened the door.

"Hello buttercup." John Potts returned the hug.

"Awww is Daddy's little girl home?" Pepper spun around and was greeted by her older brother.

"Shut up." She poked her tongue out at him.

"Finally dared to brave the west coast again?" He asked she shot him a glare in response. "And how is Tony?" He tried

"Fine."

"Is that Virginia?" A woman came out of the kitchen.

"Hello Kitty." Pepper greeted her step-mother politely, Pepper's own mother died when she was a teenager.

"It's nice to see you, are you bringing anybody?" She asked cautiously.

Pepper shook her head in response. "Nope, just me I'm afraid."

The dinner progressed quietly, the Potts family we're avoiding any subject that might bring up Tony Stark. Conversation was mostly about her Brother David's recent switch from Army doctor to regular doctor in a hospital in San Diego.

Later that evening Pepper walked out on to the deck where she found her brother smoking. "Dad will kill you when he finds out." Pepper remembered her own telling off at age 17 when she was caught.

"It's from dad's stash." He points out.

"That's where I used to steal mine from." Pepper counters.

"Pepper?" The woman in question looked up to see Tony hoping the fence in to her father's backyard.

"What's he doing here?" Her brother hissed.

"Pepper?" The voice called again.

"Tony, what are you doing here?" She asked as she hurried towards him.

"I dunno, I was at the bar and it didn't feel right so I went home and was lonely. Then I tried Rhodey but he's visiting his family and I ended up here."

"Come inside." She pulled on his arm.

"I'd rather not. I'm sure your father hates me, judging by the look on GI Joe over there."

"Ignore Dave." She told him. "He never liked you anyway."

"That's nice." Tony said as he allowed himself to be pulled in to the house.

Pepper placed the Turkey sandwich in front of him and sat opposite him, watching whilst he ate.

"Happy Turkey Day Pepper." He said taking a large bite.

"Happy Thanksgiving Tony."

He put the sandwich down and stared at her eventually leaning across to kiss her. It wasn't the kiss that surprised Pepper, it was the fact she responded to him. They continued to kiss, Tony leaning across to further deepen it when she pulled away.

"I can't." She said quietly.

"Listen, that's the past." He thought she was referring to their current marital status (or the reason for its current state). "Pepper it's you, it always been you." He lent forward and kissed her again, she returned it and then pulled away again.

"I really can't." She said again.

"Sure you can. Put the past behind us and we can try again." He lent forward again but she moved this time.

"Tony I'm seeing somebody." Her words hurt him and she watched as the emotions went across his face; pain, anger, sadness and understanding.

"I understand." He said softly and with that he stood and rose from his seat and walked out of the house.

….

Pepper returned to the mansion a day after the Thanksgiving kiss, and saw a woman in a black dress walk purposefully through the mansion to the door.

"If you're here to see him, I wouldn't bother." She said coldly "He brought me here last night, threw me on his bed and left me there all night." The indication was that Tony couldn't get it up and was now hiding in shame.

Pepper would've responded but her phone cut her off, she smiled a sad smile at the name "Hi honey!" She greeted cheerfully.

"_Hey how was Thanksgiving?"_

"It was ok. I saw my dad in person for the first time in a year."

"_How is he?"_

"Retirement isn't working for him, he really misses teaching."

"_Well we all get old." There was a pause on the phone. "How's your ex?"_

"You can say his name Mark." Pepper scolded lightly. "He's fine."

"_Good. Good. Does that mean you're coming home soon?" Mark asked_

"I don't know. I told him about us, so that means you can come and visit."

"_How about getting the redeye tonight and flying out to see me for the weekend?"_

"I don't know…"

"_I knew you'd say that. It's why I'm already at LAX, tell me where to go and I'll meet you there."_

Pepper gave him the address, she felt guilty for inviting him to Tony's house but she didn't know what else to do. Now to break the news to Tony.

**TBC…**

**Uh oh! **

**Tell me what you thought =D Feedback is always welcome.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Time to meet the boyfriend….**

**Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad you're all enjoying this =) Sorry about the delay my new house isn't yet connected to the internet.**

**Mark**

Pepper walked down to the workshop where she saw him working with a holographic projection of the Iron Man suit.

"Tony?" She asked cautiously

"Yep." He responded not really looking up

"Your date and I use the word date loosely, left."

"Oh." He'd forgotten about the woman he'd abandoned in his room "Good."

"Um…"

"It's my house and my life Pepper no judgement from you…" He snapped, his anger coming from her revelation

"That's actually not what I wanted to talk about." Pepper's tone turned cold slightly, although she did realise she'd invited her boyfriend to Tony's house and that was cruel given his confession at Thanksgiving.

"Really…" He was sceptical

"Yeah, um…Mark, the guy I'm seeing he's in LA he's actually coming over now to see me."

"He's coming here?" Tony asked

"Yeah"

"Ok." He jumped up and left the workshop.

"Tony what are you doing?" Pepper was confused as she followed him.

"Getting cleaned up, I need to check this guy out make sure he's not a total dick." Tony said as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

.. .. … . …. … … … … .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. … .

Pepper paced the floor near the entrance hall to Tony's house, waiting for JARVIS to announce that Mark's rental was driving up the drive.

"Ms Potts, I believe the gentleman you're expecting has arrived." JARVIS announced as the door opened.

"Hey!" Mark greeted cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Pepper and kissing.

Pepper pulled away, feeling awkward about kissing her boyfriend in Tony's house.

"Hi Mark." She said softly, taking his hand and leading him through to the main living room of the mansion.

"So you're staying here?" He asked taking in the incredible surroundings including the view of the Pacific Ocean out of the wall of windows. "I can understand why."

"It's not like I chose it at first." Pepper commented unsure as to why she was feeling so defensive. "It was where Happy was told…"

"Happy?" Mark asked moving over to look out of the window

"Hogan. Harold 'Happy' Hogan he's…" Mark cut Pepper off again.

"Tony's driver-slash-bodyguard-slash-everything right?" He was now looking at the guitar collection.

"Yes, why ask if you know the answer?" Pepper shook her head. "Anyway he got told to bring me here and after the press started following me I decided it was the most secure location."

Mark looked at her "He's back now so I don't really get why you're still here, well I get why you're still in LA. I mean come on! That 'I am Iron Man' stunt, you being in the same state does at least put a mentally stable face on SI." He chuckled at the look on her face. "Ginny I'm a market analyst I know how important what the investors see publically is as important as your profits."

"Business talk?" Tony announced his presence to the room.

"Tony, this is Mark Barker, Mark this is Tony Stark." Pepper introduced them. They shook hands and seized each other up.

"So how did you and Pepper meet?" Tony forced himself to talk to the man.

"Pepper? Oh right, that's your nickname for her! I still hear people call her that occasionally." He chuckled awkwardly to himself. "I'm a freelance analyst. Ginny brought me in during when you guys were floating around the clean energy initiatives to see how that'd impact your stock and we just clicked."

"How did our clean energy make it look?"

"Well you've got the Stark name in the energy sections and it carries some weight and the green offsets the negative connotations of being a weapons manufacturer. On weapons if you were to get back in to that your stock would shoot up, there's a lot floating over to Hammer Industries, they're seen as your next biggest competitor and those loyal to you are flip flopping through all the other producers. You'd stabilise that industry…"

"Business talk?" Pepper said in a sing song voice, mocking Tony's earlier point.

"Sorry Potts, I just figured since I'm paying the guy I should hear what he has to say." Again Tony was shocked by the slightly harsh tone of voice.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Pepper calmly announced. "Mark, what hotel are you staying in?"

"I uh…didn't book one. I kind of assumed you had a hotel and that we'd stay there." Mark sheepishly looked at Pepper.

"It's fine Pepper, you can stay here tonight. It's late and then you guys can book a room for tomorrow."

"If you're ok with that honey." Mark looked at Pepper for her response.

She could've sworn she saw Tony's eyes turn green when he heard Mark's pet name for her. "Ok…"

"Excellent!" Tony announced, although his face remained passive and Pepper couldn't tell what he was really up to and she excused herself to make a phone call.

"So, seriously weapons it'd be a huge boost." Mark looked at Tony

"We don't make weapons anymore." Tony's tone indicated the decision was final.

"Nah, you just fly around blowing up your own stock."

"Those weapons were designed to defend and protect they're being used to attack innocent civilians. Until I'm satisfied SI products will be in the right hands I'm not interested in selling them."

"The red suit thing though, honestly your lucky to have Ginny in control now makes it look like a stable…company."

"That's not what you meant."

"Maybe we should steer clear of Ginny and business whilst I'm here." Mark said, scared of the look on Tony's face.

"Perhaps it's for the best."

"Tony a word?" Pepper had slipped silently back in to the room.

"Sure." He followed her.

"Staying here was a mistake. You're acting like a child. I just called Happy he's going to take us to a hotel tonight." She told him.

"I'm not acting like a child that guy just rubs me the wrong the way." He counters

"No, he rubs me the right way and that bugs you."

"God you have no idea how dirty that sounds."

"Tony focus!" She snapped.

"Sorry Pepper." He said genuinely "Are you going to tell him?"

"Tell him what?" She asked

"About that dance we shared." His tone was nonchalant.

"There's nothing to tell." She told him firmly

"What about Thanksgiving?" He whispered

"You got drunk and I was feeling sentimental, he doesn't need to know you tried to kiss me."

"I succeeded. Twice."

"He doesn't need to know."

"Lies Pepper? Trust me from experience lying doesn't help." He'd rattled her, he could tell.

"This conversation is over." She spun on her heels and left.

.. … …. …. …. …. ..

Tony used her absence to begin looking at the lines on his chest; they'd popped up a few weeks ago. Palladium, it turned out, was incompatible with the chest piece and was leaking into his blood stream slowly poisoning him to death.

He'd started to design a new chest piece that would hopefully stop the problem. He had it up on the projection when the click of her heels and the sudden stop of the Black Sabbath album he'd been listening to.

"I really hate it when you turn off my music." He didn't even look as he said it.

"What are you working on?" She looked at the image.

"Flux Capacitor." He said seriously.

"Very funny, I've seen that movie and apart from not being real they look nothing like that." She was amused he could tell.

"Hey Doc Brown's idea had some scientific principle…"

"Seriously what are you working on?" She cut him off before he got too in to the idea.

"Reactor upgrade." He tapped his chest.

"Everything ok?"

"I'm fine." He hated lying to Pepper, he really did and after she left him he promised to be honest with her whenever he got the chance.

"So Mark left."

"Yeah, he had to get back to New York. I told him about Thanksgiving…"

"Really!" He spun around "How did that work out?"

"Well we argued and he went home." She said sadly.

"I'm sorry Pepper." He meant it as well, he'd not liked that Mark character one bit but Pepper was happy and that's what mattered.

"It's ok, I'll give him a chance to cool off and…" She was cut off by her blackberry ringing.

"Hello?" she didn't recognise the number.

"_Ginny! I'm calling from the plane we're still on the tarmac. I'm sorry I left like that. I believe you when you say nothing's going on…" There was some muffled chatter. "Listen, the flight attendant is getting mad at me, I love you I'll see you at Christmas."_

The phone clicked indicating the flight attendant had won the battle to get him to switch his phone off. Her gaze met Tony's who'd overheard the conversation, he smiled weakly at Pepper, who returned it. This was progress although neither could say they were 100 per cent happy with the idea.

**TBC…**

**There you go, feedback appreciated. I'll try and update soon but accessing the web is definitely a problem for me. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it took so long. Between moving and starting my final year and trying to be clever and picking all the work so it was due towards the start of the term it's been incredibly hectic and obviously fanfiction had to take a back seat. **

**Tis the Season**

**Christmas & New Year:**

"Rhodes, do you have plans?" Tony asked as soon as his best friend answered the phone. "Of course you do! You're coming over for beer and Christmas dinner." He didn't even let his friend answer the original question.

"I'm assuming by Christmas dinner you mean Chinese food and beer." Tony couldn't see it but he knew Rhodey was rolling his eyes.

"Colonel Rhodes you know me so well." Tony laughed.

"Pepper gonna be there?" Rhodey asked carefully, he'd spent the last two Christmases with Tony. Tony who after Pepper left had returned to his womanizing ways except on Christmas. Christmas was when he really thought about his parents and then when he was with Pepper the two Christmases he spent with her he was happy again and Rhodey didn't have to peel him off the floor.

"No, she went back to New York." Tony's faux cheerful tone wasn't fooling him.

"Is she? Is she coming back?" Rhodey asked.

"Yeah, she flew out to see her boyfriend over the holidays." The cheerfulness was coming out more forced than before.

"Sure I can come over on Christmas Eve but I'm spending the Christmas day with my sister and her kids they flew out to see me."

"Well it doesn't seem like you need me getting you drunk." Tony was about to hang up when Rhodey stopped him.

"Listen Tony, if you want to come over and spend Christmas with us, you can."

"Thanks Rhodey." Tony ended the call.

…..

On Christmas Eve Tony found himself knocking on Rhodey's front door when it was answered by a woman and a small child.

"I'm looking for James Rhodes" Tony wondered for a moment if Rhodey had moved and forgotten to tell him, before remembering this must be his sister. Tony flashed the woman his trademark smile and held out his hand "Tony Stark, you must be the sister."

The woman returned the hand shake. "Lisa Rhodes and this…" she moved so the child was no longer hiding "…is Zack."

"Pleasure to meet you both." Tony said as Lisa let him in to Rhodey's house.

The trio walked through to the living room where Rhodey had paused the movie, Zack ran over and jumped on his uncle who turned around to see his sister and his friend. "Hey Tony your just in time. We're about to watch the Grinch."

"Uncle Jim?" Zack asked as the Grinch stole all the presents under the tree.

"Yeah…"

"Can that really happen?" The child was obviously concerned about the safety of his presents that night.

"Nah, your presents are safe kiddo."

"How do you know?" Zack wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"Cus if they do, I'm friends with Iron Man and I'll make sure they're safe." Zack seemed satisfied with the answer and was relatively silent for the rest of the movie.

It was getting late when Tony decided it was time to leave but was stopped by Rhodey.

"Hey man, you've had a few beers." Rhodey pulled Tony's keys from his hand. "Just crash on the couch, you were coming over tomorrow anyway."

Tony yawned and nodded.

… ….. … …. …

Pepper dropped her bags in the entry of Tony's Malibu mansion a few days after New Year's which she'd spent freezing in Times Square because Mark had been horrified to learn that she'd never done it, despite having lived in New York for two years (she and Tony had always spent New Year's in St Bart's).

She walked in to the living room and was about to flop on the couch in that post-flight exhaustion despite having spent six hours sat down. "How was New York?" Tony asked politely, not really interested in what she'd got up to with her boyfriend.

"It was fine, what did you do for Christmas?" She asked nervously, she knew how he'd spent Christmas the last two years after a drunken phone call from Rhodey last year.

_**Flashback!**_

"_Pepppppper!" Rhodey yelled down the phone. _

"_Rhodey is that you?" Pepper asked shivering as the cold New York air hit her. She was celebrating the holidays with some friends at a very casual yet very posh Christmas get together._

"_Yeeeeeeeep." Rhodey replied_

"_Where are you?" She huffed, annoyed at being pulled away from her evening for a drunken call from an old friend of her ex-husbands._

"_Same place as I am every Christmas since you left!" He said like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world._

"_You're at Tony's." She said sadly, she knew how he got at this time of year._

"_Yeaaaah, he misses you." Rhodey tried to sound serious but failed._

"_He cheated Jim."_

"_Pepper…" Whatever Rhodey was about to say was cut off by Tony in the background._

"_Are you talking to Pepper? Give me the phone." There was a muffled sound as Tony who sounded as drunk if not drunker than Rhodey tried to steal the phone. Then she heard it, the voice she'd been avoiding for two years "Pepper! Is that you?"_

_She hung up the phone instantly._

_**End Flashback!**_

"Pepper, Pepper, Pepper, Pepper, Pepper, Pep, Pep, Pep, Pep, Pep, Peppy, Peppy, Peppy, Peppy, Peppy, Virginia, Virginia, Virginia, Virginia, Virginia, Ginny, Ginny…Ouch!" Tony stopped as he felt Pepper's fist come down on his arm

"Only my mother called me that and you know it." She shot him a look. "What do you want Tony?"

"You kinda spaced out for a moment." He grinned. "For the record, I heard lover boy call you Ginny."

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important." She responded. "Anyway what have you been up to?"

"Oh you know, breathed in, breathed out. Decided to continue the process in order to sustain life." He laughed at the glare she shot him.

"Hilarious Mr Stark." She said trying to conceal her amusement.

"I do try."

…. ….. …. ….. ….. …. …

**Valentines**

"Listen Mark…" Pepper sighed. "…No Mark, you don't understand!" She was getting frustrated now. "Look I'm flying out…" She pulled her phone away from her ear and stared as the faint sounds of the dial tone could be heard coming from the tiny speaker. "…Well that's just rude."

"Trouble in paradise?" Tony appeared from the shadows of her office door.

"He thought I was flying out today, I told him no tomorrow and he doesn't think he'll be able to get reservations on Valentines hence the big romantic dinner he'd planned for tonight."

"Why don't you fly out today?" Tony asked

"Last minute tickets cost a fortune and we've got work to do."

"Excuses Potts." He sat on her couch. "I have a private jet."

"That's very kind of you, but your expo opens in a month and…"

"The expo is in New York, as is your boyfriend it's a 4 hour flight I'm sure you could be…productive"

"Tony…" She starts to protest.

"No excuses Potts. As CEO I'm ordering you to New York….Yep, it's official now. You need to go."

With that he stood up and walked out of the office leaving Pepper to pick up her phone.

"Mark? It's Virginia, listen there's been a change of plan…"

**TBC…**

**Again sorry for the delay I've had a lot of deadlines. Don't worry Pepper's bliss with her new man won't last long. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry it's been a while, but again I've been backed up at work. Anyone who has ever been in the last year of their degree will understand the sheer ridiculousness of the workload. Fair warning there's a naughty word in here, just the one, used twice.**

**You Complete Me**

Pepper reapplied her make-up as Tony's jet descended on to the Stark Industries runway. She'd spent most of the flight quietly sobbing, her Valentines plans hadn't really gone as she'd hoped.

_**Flashback**_

_He was waiting for her at La Guardia when her plane touched down. Pepper smiled when she saw Mark as soon as the door opened, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck placing a light kiss on his lips. _

"_Sorry about the confusion." She said after she broke the contact. _

"_It's fine. We're just lucky you called before I cancelled our plans." His tone had undertones of anger in, Pepper frowned but quickly hid her concern. _

"_I know, I just didn't think I should leave on weekday with the Expo…" She began, as they walked towards the car. _

"_I get that Ginny, I really do, but isn't the point of him being CEO that he manages the business and he allows his ex-wife to spend Valentine's with her boyfriend?" He cuts across. _

"_He's only been CEO again for a few weeks..." She tries to explain_

"…_He's done it for 20 years, surely he can manage to get back in the swing of things and you can come back to New York and things can go back to normal." Mark whines. _

"_Things aren't normal." Pepper sighs. "Not, now he's Iron Man and they won't be normal for a long time if ever." _

"_So I'm going to be sharing you with him." Mark huffs. _

"_No of course not. Look we're civil…" Pepper began before again being cut off. _

"_Are you still living with him?" Mark asks. _

_Pepper doesn't miss the accusation in his voice. "I am and that is not what you're asking." She throws back at him. _

"_No, it's not what I am asking. I have a right to know if you're fucking your ex-husband." As soon as he said it he felt Pepper's hand collide with his face._

"_I can't believe you'd ask me that." She turned away from him and walked away as fast as she could before stopping and turning to face him. "For the record…No. No I'm not sleeping with Tony and I can't believe you'd ask me that." _

"_Where are you going?" He calls after her._

"_I'm getting a cab! I can't even look at you right now!" She calls before again storming off. _

_Later that evening Pepper sat in her apartment in her sweats waiting for her Chinese to arrive, she wasn't going to go back to LA straight away, no, she needed a few days to think. A process that was interrupted by a knock on the door. _

_She opened it, knowing who it would be and she was right. Mark was at the door complete with flowers. "Ginny I'm sorry." He said sincerely, she didn't reply just moved aside to allow him to enter her apartment. _

"_We…uh…we still have reservations if you want to use them." He asks cautiously. _

"_I ordered in." Pepper says coldly. _

"_Ginny…" Mark moves to touch her._

"_No." She cuts him off, tears threatening to fall "No, what you said hurt, I can't believe you don't trust me enough to believe…I just…You know why I left him, you know how it made me feel, how could you accuse me of doing the same thing to somebody else."_

"_Well you have to look at the evidence." He says, his earlier sincerity replaced by anger. "You fly out for 3 months, I get that. Then he's back and you stay for a bit, I get that too. But staying in his house? I don't understand that, it's not like you're short on cash! Staying for six months? That I don't understand. Everybody knows what he's like with women and it's not as if you've never gave in and fell in to his bed…" Whatever was about to come out of Mark's mouth was cut off with a loud slap. _

"_Get out." Pepper hissed. "Get out of my apartment, I don't want to see you again."_

"_So you're leaving me for him…"_

"_No! I'm leaving you because you clearly don't care and you don't trust me. I don't like the side of you I've seen today."_

"_I don't like the fact you're whore who fucks her ex-husband whilst her boyfriend waits for her at home." The ornament she threw barely missed his head. _

_**End Flashback**_

"Miss Potts, we're landing in a moment. Can you take a seat and belt up please?" The voice of the pilot came over the intercom, Pepper checked her make-up in the mirror one last time and complied with his request.

This time when she disembarked the aircraft she noticed somebody was waiting for her who was genuinely happy to see her.

"Rhodey? I was expecting Happy." She hugged her friend.

"I had the day off and I wanted to know what makes a woman fly home from her Valentines weekend early." He says as he opens the car door for her. Pepper climbs in to the car but doesn't answer Rhodey's question as to why she'd flown home early.

Rhodey frowns as they drive in silence. "We have a problem Pepper…"

"Jim…" She thinks he's going to ask about Tony and his not-so-hidden feelings for her.

"No, I'm not going to ask you about that." He knows what she thinks she's going to ask "Not yet anyway. Actually we have a bigger problem."

"Really?" She's worried now. "What's he done this time?"

"Built a suit of armour and flies around calling himself a superhero." Rhodey says before chuckling at the absurdity of the statement.

"Oh God! Tell me about it!" She laughs.

"That report on Iron Man that I was ordered to write…"

"That'd be the report that's probably exactly where I left it on his desk right?" She chuckles.

"Wouldn't surprise me if it's not being sacrificed for the good of whatever Tony's working on." He joins in on her laughter. "Anyway, I heard through scuttlebutt…"

"James Rhodes, surely by now you should know not to listen to gossip!" Pepper lightly slaps his shoulder.

"I know, I know. But the thing is Pepper they want it." His tone turns serious

"Want what?" She asks, confused by the sudden switch to serious.

"The Iron Man suit." He sighs "They want the suit, apparently he's going to be called before the senate."

"When?" She's panicked now already preparing the list of who she has to prepare; lawyers ect…

"Soon, that's all I know." He said, before turning and grinning at her. "So what makes a pretty lady fly back early the day after Valentines? I thought you were planning on waiting in New York and flying back after the Expo?"

"I broke up with Mark." She said sadly.

"You argued about Tony?" Rhodey asked.

Pepper smiles sadly and nods. "Yeah, we argued about Tony, he thinks we're back together."

"Are you?" Rhodey asks with a little more tact than Mark.

"No." She replies.

"Well you may want to let Tony know that." He tells her softly. "Seriously Pepper, what is going on between the two of you?"

"Honestly Jim?" She looks at him as they pull in to Tony's Malibu mansion. She gets out of the car and looks at the door. "I don't know."

Tony looks up as JARVIS announces that she's on the way down to his work shop. "Not a word about the palladium ok?" He instructs the A.I

"Of course not sir." JARVIS responds just as the door slides open.

"You're meant to be in New York." He accuses, not even hiding the fact he's happy to see her (his tone gives in all away).

"I was married to you Tony, I know you're about as organised as a rock. Are you ready for the opening this weekend?" Pepper puts on a happy tone for him.

"I'd like to think I did ok for two years." He shoots back

"Not from what I've been told." Pepper counters.

… … … … … …. … … … …. … .

Its three days later that they're stood in the rear of a military aeroplane, Tony suited up and throwing up (he'll say hangover but he knows it's the metal in his body) as he prepares to make the jump to the Stark Expo bellow.

"I'm fine Pepper." He calls through the bathroom door before throwing up again. She sighs in a mixture of disgust and worry as she opens the door and the smell hits her. "I'm serious, just give me a little space." He tries to wave her off.

"Get up." She tells him feeling no sympathy for his current predicament.

"I can't go through with it." Tony tells her as he tries not to throw up again.

"We don't have time for this!" She snaps, they're approaching the drop zone. "We have to go."

He mumbles as he flushes away his vomit before looking at his ex-wife "Do I look weird?"

"You look like you look every day." She says "Like you have a hangover."

She pushes him towards the rear of the aeroplane as he asks for ginger ale and aspirin to help settle his stomach. "I have Motrin…" She tries to distract him.

"Motrin?" He asks incredulously, Pepper succeeding in distracting him. "I'm telling you there is seriously something wrong…"

"I know there's something seriously wrong with you." She agrees

"…seriously wrong with giving a grown man Motrin." He tells her and she responds but he drowns out her response by yelling "I AM NOT ON MY CYCLE PEPPER!"

He yells for the mission to be aborted but Pepper pulls him up and pushes him towards the door, informing him that they have worked too hard and pulled too many strings to get him to able to make his grand entrance.

"We are over the drop zone." She snaps.

"What?" He's immediately gets on-board with what's going on. He looks at Pepper "Let's do this baby." He walks towards the ramp, Pepper follows still holding on to his helmet.

The wind is rushing through the aircraft as he begins to talk about how selfish he is "…I know I don't say it enough but… how's my hair?"

"You've said that before." She doesn't add the 'lots of times' she wants to.

"I know but this time I mean it."

"You're looking good." She tells him hoping that he jumps before they miss the drop.

"Give me a smooch for good luck, I might not make it back." He asks jokingly, Pepper never told him she broke up with Mark.

What she does do is lift the helmet she'd been holding on to and press a tender kiss to the mouth opening. "Go get 'em honey." She smiles as she throws it out of the aircraft.

He grins, obviously not expecting her to do that. "You complete me." He says lightly as he leaps from the aeroplane.

She won't admit it to herself, let alone him but she's starting to realise that he completes her to and she lets herself think back to Rhodey's final question when he dropped her off.

"_Do you still have feelings for Tony?" _

**TBC…**

**Nice long chapter for you guys. I'll try and update when I can but I've got a lot of work due in the next few months. **

**Hope you enjoyed it! I really like the aeroplane scene I'm disappointed they cut it from the final film, YouTube it if you've not seen it. Did you guys like the bonding between Rhodey and Pepper? Are you glad Mark's out of the picture? Let me know by hitting that little review button! **


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